Toilet ventilation system

ABSTRACT

A toilet ventilation system includes a toilet with a sealing gasket between the toilet seat and bowl. An aperture is positioned in the sealing gasket to allow unpleasant odors to be vacuumed out of the toilet bowl via an exhaust tube. The exhaust tube is fitted onto a ventilator with filtered apertures and a fan. The fan creates the vacuum that forces contaminated air through the filtered apertures so that odorless air is released from the ventilator.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to bathroom ventilation. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a toilet ventilationsystem.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The flush toilet is a common plumbing fixture found in most developedsocieties. The flush toilet has a donut shaped seat which rests directlyabove and on top of a rim of a bowl of the toilet. Usually a smallamount of water resides in the bottom of the bowl. Directly behind andabove the bowl is typically a tank which stores water used during aflush. When a person pushes a handle located on the tank, it opens aflush valve which allows the water stored into the tank to quickly fillthe bowl. The bowl has a siphon which then allows the buildup of waterto flow through the siphon and into the building's plumbing system.After the tank is empty, the flush valve closes and the tank begins torefill. A water supply line is located within the tank. Usually a floatis mechanically connected to a filler valve which then refills the tankuntil the water level rises to a certain point where the float nowfloating turns the filler valve off.

The toilet is primarily used for the disposal of blackwater. Blackwaterdescribes wastewater containing fecal matter, urine, vomit and menstrualwaste. Sometimes blackwater is referred to as brown water, foul water,or sewage. This is not the same as greywater or sullage, which is theresidue of the washing process. However, in a typical home blackwaterand greywater are both disposed into a common sewage system.

Unfortunately, when a person has to use the toilet to create blackwater,it may produce accompanying unpleasant odors and fumes. To solve thisproblem, bathroom ventilation is quite common. Bathroom ventilationtypically resides directly above the toilet and is installed within theceiling structure. The ventilation system typically comprises a fan thatis ducted to the outside environment. The gasses and fumes are suckedinto the ventilation system and then expelled into the environmentbefore they are able to permeate to other areas of the dwelling beyondthe bathroom. The ventilation system is usually controllable with a wallmounted switch that can turn on and off the ventilation fan.

The typical bathroom ventilation system still has several drawbacks. Theperson using the toilet may still experience the unpleasant odors,gasses, and fumes as they rise towards the overhead ventilation system.These odors are not only immediately unpleasant but can linger for sometime depending upon the strength of the overhead ventilation system.These odors can also permeate into the clothing of the person whocreated them, and be unwittingly transported outside the bathroom area.

Accordingly, there is a need for a toilet ventilation system thatpurifies the air nearest to the source of the fumes. The presentinvention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a toilet ventilation system for clearingunpleasant odors created in the bowl of a toilet. The toilet ventilationsystem includes a toilet, with at least a bowl and a seat, a sealinggasket between the bowl and the seat, an exhaust tube, and a ventilator.The sealing gasket includes an aperture, and one end of the exhaust tubeis positioned in or near this aperture. The other end of the exhausttube is coextensive with the ventilator.

The toilet of the present invention may also include a tank and a lid.The sealing gasket between the bowl and the seat is made from a materialthat creates a seal that is air-impermeable. Such a material may berubber or plastic. The aperture in the sealing gasket may be of adiameter that corresponds with the diameter of one or both of the endsof the exhaust tube.

The ventilator is attached to the free end of the exhaust tube. Theventilator may include a filter and a fan. The ventilator may also behollow with the filter and fan positioned inside the ventilator. The fancreates negative pressure inside the toilet bowl when a person issitting on the seat, such that any odors near the surface of the waterin the bowl are drawn out the exhaust tube and filtered through theventilator. The filter of the ventilator may be made of paper, fabric,or carbon fibers. The material of the filter may also be chemicallytreated so as to enhance its ability to filter odors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toilet ventilation system,illustrating a toilet, the exhaust tube, and ventilator;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention, illustrating thetoilet with the lid lifted;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention, illustrating thetoilet with the lid and the seat lifted;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the toilet lid, illustrating the placement ofthe exhaust tube and ventilator;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, front view of the ventilator, illustrating theseries of apertures therein;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the inside of the bottom half of the ventilator,illustrating the series of apertures therein;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the inside of the bottom half of the ventilator,illustrating the placement of the filter and fan therein;

FIG. 8 is a bottom-up view of the inside of the top half of theventilator, illustrating the placement of the filter about theventilator exhaust port;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the ventilator, illustrating the series ofapertures as well as the fan, as seen through the ventilator exhaustport;

FIG. 10 is an exploded side view of the top half of the ventilator,illustrating the placement of the exhaust tube, inner washer, andfilter;

FIG. 11 is an exploded side view of the bottom half of the ventilator,illustrating the placement of the fan, filter, and power source; and

FIG. 12 is a cut-away side schematic view of the ventilator,illustrating the pathway by which air is filtered through theventilator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For the purpose of illustration, the toilet ventilation system of thepresent invention is generally referred to by the number 10. In FIG. 1,the toilet ventilation system 10 is illustrated. Here, a standard toilet12 includes a tank 14, a lid 16, a seat 18 and a bowl 20. And exhausttube 24 and ventilator 26 extend from the bowl 20 of the toilet 12. Thetoilet ventilation system 10 may be used in conjunction with otherstyles of toilet. For example, a public restroom style toilet that onlyhas a bowl 20 and a seat 18 can be used with the toilet ventilationsystem 10. The embodiment illustrated herein utilizes the most commonstyle of toilet 12 found in most U.S. homes.

The toilet 12 is illustrated with the lid 16 raised in FIG. 2. The lid16 and seat 18 are joined to the bowl 20 of the toilet 12 by hinges 28near the tank 14. The hinges 28 allow for the lid 16 to be raised whilethe seat 18 remains lowered, as shown. Alternately, the hinges 28 alsoallow for both the lid 16 and seat 18 to be lowered (as shown in FIG.1), or for both the lid 16 and the seat 18 to be raised (as shown inFIG. 3). The tank 14 holds water used to flush waste from the bowl 20.This process is very well known in the art.

In FIG. 3, the toilet 12 is illustrated with both the lid 16 and seat 18raised. In the present invention, the seat 18 includes a sealing gasket22 attached to the bottom perimeter of the seat 18. The sealing gasket22 is included to create an air-tight seal between the bottom of theseat 18 and the rim of the bowl 20. The present invention is directed atcapturing and filtering unpleasant odors generated near the surface ofthe water contained in the bowl 20 of the toilet 12. Thus, the sealinggasket 22 is necessary to prevent the unpleasant odors from escapingfrom the toilet 12 through any gaps that may exist between the bottom ofthe seat 18 and the rim of the bowl 20. The sealing gasket 22 may bemade of various compressible plastics, foams, rubber material orcombinations thereof. It is preferred that the sealing gasket 22 is madefrom a durable material that can survive cleaning by industrial strengthproducts without disintegrating.

Ideally, the sealing gasket 22 is made from a mold and/or mildewresistant plastic or contains an antimicrobial agent, such as silvercontaining compounds, or similar material. The sealing gasket 22 isdesigned to withstand years of repeated use. The sealing gasket 22includes an aperture 34 along the circumference of the seat 18. Theaperture is included for the purpose of providing an opening throughwhich an exhaust tube 24 may pass. As shown in FIG. 3, the aperture 34is advantageously positioned near the back of the seat 18. This lessensthe chances of the exhaust tube 24 being knocked out of place while thetoilet 12 is in use. The rear placement of the exhaust tube 24 andventilator 26 is best illustrated in FIG. 4. The exhaust tube 24,ventilator 26 and associated sealing gasket aperture 34 may bepositioned at any point along the perimeter of the toilet seat 18, butit will be understood by one of skill in the relevant art that thesemembers are best placed at a point where they will not interfere withnormal use of the toilet 12.

The ventilator 26 is shown enlarged in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, theventilator 26 is spherical, like a ball. In other embodiments, theventilator 26 may be cube-shaped, or any other shape that wouldfacilitate venting unpleasant odors from a toilet 12. The exhaust tube24 enters at the top of the ventilator 26. The ventilator 26 includes aseries of apertures 32 around its surface. These apertures 32 facilitatethe filtering and venting of unpleasant odors from the toilet 12. Inthis embodiment, the ventilator 26 may be separated into two halvesalong its equator. This allows for the inner contents of the ventilator26 to be removed and replaced as needed.

The ventilator 26 is shown in various top-down and bottom-up views inFIGS. 6-9. In FIG. 6, the bottom half of the ventilator 26 is shown in atop-down view. Here, a series of apertures 34 are shown radiating fromthe center of the bottom half of the ventilator 26. The bottom half ofthe ventilator 26 is shown again in FIG. 7, installed with a filter 36and a fan 38. The filter 36 may be made of paper, or fabric, or someother material that is suitable as a filter, such as charcoal.Additionally, the filter 36 may be chemically treated to enhance itsodor filtering abilities. In the illustrated embodiment, the filter 36is cut into a round, donut-shape. The outer diameter of the filter 36 isslightly larger than the outer circumference of the ventilator 26. Whenthe filter 36 is pushed into the bottom half of the ventilator 26, itconforms to the inner surface of the ventilator 26. This means that mostof the apertures 32 (FIG. 6) are obstructed by the filter 36. Any airexiting the ventilator 26 is therefore forced to pass through the filter36.

The fan 38 is positioned in the bottom of the ventilator 26, as shown inFIG. 7. The fan 38 can be formed from a variety of fan types and is notintended to be limited by this disclosure. The fan 38 operates inreverse to create a vacuum inside the ventilator 26. This vacuum extendsto the exhaust tube 24 and effectively draws air out of the toilet 12from near the surface of the water in the bowl 20. There is a volume ofair near the surface of the water in the bowl 20 that is containedtherein by the seal created by the sealing gasket 22 and the posteriorof the user who is sitting on the seat 18 of the toilet 12. As such, theonly escape route for this air is through the exhaust tube 24. As thisair is suctioned out through the exhaust tube 24 by the vacuum createdby the fan 38, any unpleasant odors therein are evacuated as well. Asthe air with the unpleasant odors is suctioned into the ventilator 26,it is passed through the filter 36 within the ventilator 26 before it isfinally vented to the outside of the toilet ventilation system 10.

The top half of the ventilator 26, taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 5 isshown in FIG. 8. Another filter 36 is pressed into this half of theventilator 26 in the same manner described above. The top half of theventilator 26 features a ventilator exhaust port 46 in the center. Thisventilator exhaust port 46 provides an aperture through which theexhaust tube 24 can be fit. When the two halves of the ventilator 26 areassembled together, the fan 38 can be seen through the ventilatorexhaust port 46, in the top-down view of the ventilator 26 of FIG. 9.

An exploded view of the ventilator 26 is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11.In FIG. 10, an exploded view of the top half of the ventilator 26 isshown. Here, it can be seen that the filter 36 has an outer diameterthat is slightly larger than the circumference of the ventilator 26.This is so the filter 36 can be pushed into the top half of theventilator 26 such that the filter 36 substantially conforms to theinside of this portion of the ventilator 26. The top half of theventilator 26 also includes a washer 42. The washer 42 is included tohelp create an air-tight seal between an exhaust tube flange 40 of theexhaust tube 24 and the inside of the ventilator 26. In this way, theventilator 26 can effectively capture and filter all the odors that arevacuumed from the interior of the toilet 12. The exhaust tube flange 40has a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the ventilatorexhaust port 46. The exhaust tube 24 is preferably made of a flexiblematerial, such as rubber or plastic. This enables the exhaust tube 24and exhaust tube flange 40 to be temporarily deformed when pressedthrough the ventilator exhaust port 46. The exhaust tube 24 and exhausttube flange 40 then return to their correct shape and are retainedtherein.

The filter 36 for the bottom half of the ventilator 26 is illustrated inFIG. 11. The filter 36 for the bottom half of the ventilator 26 has anouter diameter that is slightly larger than the circumference of theventilator 26, as described above. The bottom half of the ventilator 26also includes a fan 38. The fan 38 is positioned at the center of thefilter 36 in the bottom of the ventilator 26. The fan 38 is attached toa power source 44. The power source 44 may be a battery as shownschematically, or in other embodiments may be a connection to anelectrical outlet, or some other known power source. The power source 44may be retained within the ventilator 26, as shown, or may be positionedexternal to the ventilator 26. It may also be possible to obtain energyfrom the flush cycle of the toilet 12 through various hydro-powergeneration methods. The power source 44 may come from a variety ofsources, and is not intended to be limited by this disclosure. A seriesof apertures 32 through the surface of the ventilator 26 are positionedacross the top and bottom halves of the ventilator 26, as shown in FIGS.10 and 11.

There are also many ways to activate the fan 38 such that it is notrunning endlessly when not needed. For instance, in one embodiment thefan 38 can be activated when the lid 16 is open relative to the seat 18(FIG. 2). A switch could sense when the lid 16 was opened and therebyactivate the fan 38. In another embodiment, the seat 18 could include apressure sensor that would register when a person was sitting on theseat 18 and thereby activate the fan 38. In another embodiment, anon/off switch could be located on the seat 18 such that a user couldmanually select whether the fan 38 is activated. In yet anotherembodiment, the fan 38 can be controlled from a wall mounted switch. Theswitch could send an infrared or remote signal to the fan 38 which couldinclude a receiver to remotely activate the fan 38. Alternately, a wallmounted switch could be hard-wired directly to the fan 38. A switch forthe fan 38 could also be devised that works on a combination of themethods described herein.

The direction of air-flow through the ventilator 26 is illustrated inFIG. 12. As described above, the fan 38 operates in reverse to create avacuum within the ventilator 26. Air is pulled through the exhaust tube24 from the toilet 12 near the surface of the water in the bowl 20 (notshown). As pressure builds within the ventilator 26 from the vacuumcreated therein, the air is forced out of the ventilator apertures 32.Before the air can exit the ventilator 26, it must pass through thefilters 36. As the air passes through the filters 36, any unpleasantodors are retained within the filters 36. As such, only odor-free airleaves the ventilator 26 through the apertures 32. In this way,unpleasant odors produced within the bowl 20 of the toilet 12 (notshown) are neutralized by the toilet ventilation system 10.

There are several advantages to the toilet ventilation system 10described here. First, polluted air is captured and filtered closest tothe source. Second, the seat 18 and sealing gasket 22 work together toeffectively trap and corral polluted air for filtration. Furthermore,the toilet ventilation system 10 also reduces the chance that excessodors and pollutants leave the confines of the bathroom. The toiletventilation system 10 also helps to muffle noises that are usuallyassociated with making a bowel movement. Finally, the toilet ventilationsystem 10 is easily retrofitted onto existing toilets 12.

Although several embodiments have been described in detail for purposesof illustration, various modifications may be made to each withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, theinvention is not to be limited, except as by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A toilet ventilation system comprising: a toiletcomprising at least a bowl and a seat; a sealing gasket between the bowland the seat, wherein the sealing gasket has at least one aperture; anexhaust tube having a first end and a second end, wherein the first endis extends through the aperture in the sealing gasket and the second endextends away from the toilet seat; and a ventilator connected to thesecond end of the exhaust tube.
 2. The toilet ventilation system ofclaim 1, wherein the sealing gasket creates an air-impermeable sealbetween the bowl and the seat.
 3. The toilet ventilation system of claim2, wherein the sealing gasket comprises compressible plastic, foam,rubber, or combinations thereof.
 4. The toilet ventilation system ofclaim 2, wherein the sealing gasket comprises a mold and mildewresistant plastic or contains a silver-based antimicrobial agent.
 5. Thetoilet ventilation system of claim 1, wherein the diameter of thesealing gasket aperture corresponds to the diameter of the first end ofthe exhaust tube.
 6. The toilet ventilation system of claim 1, whereinthe ventilator further comprises a filter and a fan.
 7. The toiletventilation system of claim 6, wherein the filter comprises one or morelayers of filtering material.
 8. The toilet ventilation system of claim7, wherein the filtering material is paper, fabric, or carbon fibers. 9.The toilet ventilation system of claim 7, wherein the filtering materialis chemically treated to enhance its ability to filter odors.
 10. Thetoilet ventilation system of claim 6, wherein the ventilator is hollow,and the filter and fan are positioned within the hollow ventilator. 11.The toilet ventilation system of claim 1, wherein the ventilator furthercomprises one or more apertures to encourage air-flow through theexhaust tube.
 12. A toilet ventilation system comprising: a toiletcomprising at least a bowl and a seat; a sealing gasket between the bowland seat, the sealing gasket having one aperture; an exhaust tube with afirst end and a second end, the first end extending through the aperturein the sealing gasket such that the first end is adjacent to the bowl ofthe toilet, the second end extending away from the seat; and aventilator connected to with the second end of the exhaust tube.
 13. Thetoilet ventilation system of claim 12, wherein the sealing gasketcreates an air-impermeable seal between the bowl and the seat, thesealing gasket comprising compressible plastic, foam, rubber, orcombinations thereof.
 14. The toilet ventilation system of claim 13,wherein the sealing gasket further comprises a mold and mildew resistantplastic or contains a silver-based antimicrobial agent.
 15. The toiletventilation system of claim 12, wherein the ventilator further comprisesa filter and a fan.
 16. The toilet ventilation system of claim 15,wherein the ventilator is hollow, with the filter and fan disposedwithin the hollow ventilator.
 17. The toilet ventilation system of claim16, wherein the filter comprises one or more layers of filteringmaterial, the filtering material comprising paper, fabric, or carbonfibers.
 18. The toilet ventilation system of claim 17, wherein thefiltering material of the filter is chemically treated to enhance itsability to filter odors.
 19. The toilet ventilation system of claim 12,wherein the ventilator further comprises one or more apertures toencourage air-flow through the exhaust tube.
 20. A toilet ventilationsystem comprising: a toilet comprising a bowl and a seat; a sealinggasket between the bowl and the seat, wherein the sealing gasketcomprises compressible plastic, foam, rubber, or combinations thereofand comprises a mold and mildew resistant plastic or contains asilver-based antimicrobial agent, the sealing gasket having an aperture;an exhaust tube having a first end and a second end, wherein the firstend extends through the aperture of the sealing gasket such that thefirst end is adjacent to the bowl of the toilet, the second endextending away from the toilet seat; a hollow ventilator connected tothe second end of the exhaust tube, the ventilator containing a filterand a fan, the filter comprising one or more layers of chemicallytreated filtering material, the ventilator comprising a series ofapertures to encourage air-flow through the exhaust tube; and a powersource connected to the fan within the ventilator.